Van der Westhuizen wins Cape Town Ladies Open

Johannesburg - She was pushed all the way by a group of seasoned champions, but Nadia van der Westhuizen held her nerve to claim a maiden Sunshine Ladies Tour title in the SunBet Cape Town Ladies Open at Royal Cape Golf Club on Friday.

In a tightly-contested final round, the 20-year-old Serengeti golfer locked in her one-shot victory in the season-opener on four-over with a final round one-under-par 73.

Her joint lowest round on the day relegated reigning Investec South African Women’s Open champion Lee-Anne Pace, five-time Sunshine Ladies Tour winner Stacy Bregman, Tandi McCallum, who led the first two rounds, and last year’s runner-up Cara Gorlei to joint second.

A new Sunshine Ladies Tour winner. Nadia van der Westhuizen the latest player to #LevelUp in 2022.#SunshineLadiesTour #LadiesGolf pic.twitter.com/Ph4vmb1IXh

“This is so unexpected; it’s surreal,” gushed Van der Westhuizen as she hugged her trophy.

“Twelve months ago, I was still campaigning on the GolfRSA circuit and now I’m the first winner of the 2022 Sunshine Ladies Tour season.

“I had no expectations coming into this week. I felt my game was solid, but I kept my goals realistic. I just went out there with the mindset of trying to put three good rounds together to build momentum for the rest of the tour.

“I am absolutely stoked with this win. The Sunshine Ladies Tour’s tagline is #LevelUp and I feel like that is exactly what I’ve done here this week. I used my rookie season to adjust to the pro circuit and gain experience, and this week I put everything I’ve learned into play. It’s such an awesome feeling to get this first win under the belt with the rest of the season to come.”

Rounds of 77 and 76 over the first two days in windy and wet conditions had